Josh Hazlewood exudes confidence ahead of WTC Final match against South Africa, says 'my numbers over last two years...'

Josh Hazlewood, who recently tasted success with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025, is confident of the much-awaited upcoming match of the World Test Championship (WTC) against South Africa. After battling a series of injuries in recent years, the Australian pacer is aiming to fill one of the few remaining gaps in his career. Hazlewood has finally arrived in the UK alongside Josh Inglis, after the conclusion of IPL 2025.

Hazlewood was spotted prepping for the red ball game during Australia's optional training session in Beckenham on Saturday. Hazlewood is likely to edge out Scott Boland for a spot in the starting XI. ''I was obviously quite close last time (in 2023)," Hazlewood said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"I just had more of an interrupted IPL leading into that, and then had a few little issues going on, so wasn't quite up to scratch, but I feel in a much better place this time around," he added. "And I think in any format, my numbers over the last two years have been pretty good, so have got a lot to fall back on in terms of skill wise. I still feel like I'm bowling probably the best over my career and it's just a matter of the body holding up, which it has been in the last few months," he noted.

"I think the intensity is probably a big one for me to tick that box," he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. ''We're definitely adapting training to sort of get those back-to-back days in, get a big day, followed by another bowling session the day after and things like that, just to try and try and get our head around it and put ourselves in the best possible position we can be," he noted.

Hazlewood is optimistic that the slightly delayed conclusion of the IPL won't hamper his preparation. He remains confident about getting sufficient red-ball training under his belt before the final. "I ticked over some good overs just before the final in Ahmedabad, in different weather than this," he said.

"It was quite a tough session. And then every time you play a game in the IPL, you're probably going to get almost seven or eight overs in if you really want to...in and around with warm-ups. I had a number of times where I bowled back-to-back days, again at high intensity, with the game being one of those," he noted.

In the 12 matches he played for RCB, Hazlewood took 22 wickets with an average of 17.54.

(With ANI inputs)